Marks Electrical reports boom in energy efficient laundry machine sales

Shoppers are switching to the most energy efficient washing machines and tumble dryers possible as households are squeezed by rising electricity costs, sales figures form retailer Marks Electrical show.

The business said sales of laundry appliances with energy efficiency A ratings grew by 35% in the six months to the end of September.

Sales of less efficient models stayed broadly flat, the business said.

It marks an overall swing to energy efficient major domestic appliances, the business revealed on Tuesday, as it also reported strong sales of televisions, cookers and vacuum cleaners.

It came as customers were told they could face potential energy bills topping more than £5,000 a year for an average household, starting from October.

The bills have since been capped at 34p per unit of electricity and 10.3p per unit of gas by the Government, leaving the average household with a £2,500 annual bill.

But households did not know whether extra support would come to help them through a tough winter during most of the six-month period, pushing them to buy more efficient appliances.

Marks said it managed to grow its share of the major domestic appliances (MDA) market from 1.6% to 2.1% year-on-year. Market share in the consumer electronics (CE) space rose from 2.6% to 3.9% in the same period.

Chief executive Mark Smithson said: “I’m proud of the performance we’ve delivered against a tough backdrop, with the group’s sales up 15.1% in a very challenging market where the online MDA and CE markets were down over 15% in our first half.

“As growth momentum continues to build going into the peak trading period, with an acceleration in October and a strong start to November, our focus on operational excellence and cash flow generation, combined with our net cash position, provides us with a robust platform to generate continued profitable market share growth and deliver on our full-year targets.”